3 ms·

It’s actually much less confusing than that. It’s clear he has a knack for becoming a favorite son of billionaire oligarchs who see him as useful. Which, assum

by CPLX 3y ago

It’s actually much less confusing than that. It’s clear he has a knack for becoming a favorite son of billionaire oligarchs who see him as useful. Which, assuming he’s like everyone else who’s done that, was accomplished by a combination of flattery and willingness to operate on behalf of the ruling class totally untethered from any principles whatsoever.

kossTKR 3y ago
It's pretty incredible that the upper echelons have so thoroughly psyopped everyone below them that the public runs confused around in an endless maze of ideology, false pretexts and stirred up drama. This way only insiders recognise the most fundamental realpolitical power struggles of all ages; that the "very confusing" wars, coups or power grabs is not very complex at all but always - almost as a physical principle - stemming from the richest members of society pulling the strings to benefit themselves. Then some note or some FOIA request will be released in 40 years about the orchestration and no one will care. Just follow the money, or the networks of people and it's easy to see the undercurrents of class warfare, elite power via the security state or oligarch clubs siphoning money and power away from the public, but that's called conspiracy these days and is dangerous (to the ruling classes).
- CPLX 3y ago
  Yeah this stuff isn't rocket science. If you shut the fuck up and play along and don't make people uncomfortable you get a kitchen renovation and a vacation home and a job for your kid. It's the oldest game there is.
- astrange 3y ago
  One thing I've universally noticed in unintelligent/conspiratorial political analysis is they think you can explain everything by "following the money", like here. These people are sometimes known as "low-information voters". It's amazing how much this is actually never true. Politics is largely about sincerely-held ideologies.
  - johnnyworker 3y ago
    That's an incredibly unintelligent "everything is fine move along" comment. Seeing how it contains nothing of value whatsover, I'm surprised it's this short, usually they're several paragraphs. These people are sometimes known as the lazy ones amongst the unintelligent ones.
    - astrange 3y ago
      The average normie "everything is fine" position is not that intelligent. The problem is that the first level cynical reaction is /even worse/. That's why it's a minority position. Most people aren't low-openness conspiracy theorists. It's like the midwit meme where the people at both ends agree.
      - johnnyworker 3y ago
        You're just proving their point by calling what they wrote conspiracy theory, without refuting or even interacting with a single thing they actually said, to claim politics is "actually never" about money or power grabs, and "almost always" about sincerely held beliefs. That's just laughable.
        astrange 3y ago
        Why did you put words in quotes that aren't what I said? Do you think we invaded Iraq for their oil, or that anyone profited from it? (Answer to both is no.)
  - CPLX 3y ago
    > Politics is largely about sincerely-held ideologies Close. Politics is about interests. It’s about who gets the resources and who gets status and dignity and who doesn’t. There are a lot of sincerely held ideologies that rise up around those questions. But if you don’t analyze politics through that lens you’re fucking delusional.
    - 3y ago

by CPLX 3y ago

kossTKR 3y ago

It's pretty incredible that the upper echelons have so thoroughly psyopped everyone below them that the public runs confused around in an endless maze of ideology, false pretexts and stirred up drama. This way only insiders recognise the most fundamental realpolitical power struggles of all ages; that the "very confusing" wars, coups or power grabs is not very complex at all but always - almost as a physical principle - stemming from the richest members of society pulling the strings to benefit themselves. Then some note or some FOIA request will be released in 40 years about the orchestration and no one will care. Just follow the money, or the networks of people and it's easy to see the undercurrents of class warfare, elite power via the security state or oligarch clubs siphoning money and power away from the public, but that's called conspiracy these days and is dangerous (to the ruling classes).

CPLX 3y ago
Yeah this stuff isn't rocket science. If you shut the fuck up and play along and don't make people uncomfortable you get a kitchen renovation and a vacation home and a job for your kid. It's the oldest game there is.
astrange 3y ago
One thing I've universally noticed in unintelligent/conspiratorial political analysis is they think you can explain everything by "following the money", like here. These people are sometimes known as "low-information voters". It's amazing how much this is actually never true. Politics is largely about sincerely-held ideologies.
- johnnyworker 3y ago
  That's an incredibly unintelligent "everything is fine move along" comment. Seeing how it contains nothing of value whatsover, I'm surprised it's this short, usually they're several paragraphs. These people are sometimes known as the lazy ones amongst the unintelligent ones.
  - astrange 3y ago
    The average normie "everything is fine" position is not that intelligent. The problem is that the first level cynical reaction is /even worse/. That's why it's a minority position. Most people aren't low-openness conspiracy theorists. It's like the midwit meme where the people at both ends agree.
    - johnnyworker 3y ago
      You're just proving their point by calling what they wrote conspiracy theory, without refuting or even interacting with a single thing they actually said, to claim politics is "actually never" about money or power grabs, and "almost always" about sincerely held beliefs. That's just laughable.
      - astrange 3y ago
        Why did you put words in quotes that aren't what I said? Do you think we invaded Iraq for their oil, or that anyone profited from it? (Answer to both is no.)
- CPLX 3y ago
  > Politics is largely about sincerely-held ideologies Close. Politics is about interests. It’s about who gets the resources and who gets status and dignity and who doesn’t. There are a lot of sincerely held ideologies that rise up around those questions. But if you don’t analyze politics through that lens you’re fucking delusional.
  - 3y ago